Edge is the number one browser in the world for installing chrome.
In my case it was Edge Beta, and Firefox.
Haven't even gotten Chrome installed on my PC.
Edge sends full URLs of pages visited to Microsoft
141–150 of 161 posts
Re: Edge sends full URLs of pages visited to Microsoft
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
You also need to consider the greater context. Suppose my history shows I sent a hash that could be one of 100 different known URLs. One of them is about model airplanes, but there is no way to know I picked that one. Chance I like model airplanes? All else being equal.. call it 1% But what if over the next hour I continue to send hashes with random subject matter sets that include model airplanes each time. Suppose…
You skipped a factor, in Safe Browsing Update API (the mode actual web browsers like Firefox use) that step where you send a 4 byte prefix only happens when the prefix already matched a local hotlist. So if you visit 100 URLs in an hour, and using the local hotlist allows your browser to discard all but 1 of those URLs as definitely not bad, that's only one URL prefix checked against Google, not 100 so there's no tri…
Ugh, editing goof - that last bit of my explanation is wrong, Google sends the whole SHA256 hash of the bad site's URL and your browser compares -that- to the full hash it calculates for the model plane site. The four byte prefix will be the same of course, if it wasn't we wouldn't get this far.
Re: Edge sends full URLs of pages visited to Microsoft
#143Edge is the number one browser in the world for installing chrome.
Doesn't Chrome send your entire browsing history to Google as well? Edit: I thought this was a well know fact and if it isn't I might have been to harsh about Google and Chrome. Edit 2: Thinking about it and searching a bit I conclude that IIRC Google at least used to have access to your browsing history as part of syncing it unencrypted.
My activity[0] is Google's official way of telling you what it has collected about you from sources like Chrome. Things there will be used to personalize your experience.
Re: Edge sends full URLs of pages visited to Microsoft
#144Is there even a "pure" browser anymore? By that, I mean one which by default will do this: if I enter a URL in the address bar, it will fetch that page and its associated resources. If I click a link on a page, it will fetch its destination (this is obviously a simplified view, ignoring things like JS on the page etc.) No other network activity, no "recommendations", no other attempts to be "smart" or "helping" by do…
Firefox might not meet your definition but with a few extensions (Containers, NoScript, uBlock origin) it's quite good at protecting your privacy.
The only thing is they integrate things like pocket and they're putting some other things in soon.
Re: Edge sends full URLs of pages visited to Microsoft
#145Edge is the number one browser in the world for installing chrome.
So stop using a browser from a company that has a source of income besides selling your info to install a browser from a company to which you are the product. Ironic, no?
Not saying MS is not doing anything wrong, but the lesser evil I think.
Re: Edge sends full URLs of pages visited to Microsoft
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
>The good part of Microsoft is the division responsible for languages, compilers and cloud. Putting their telemetry in your compiled binaries is ... real good? Marketing is the only thing that changed.
Source? Or are you talking about when they enabled generation of ETW events (as in used by YOU in OFFLINE to debug your app.) generation by default? People like you spreading fud make it difficult to discuss actual cases (like this appears to be)
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Re: Edge sends full URLs of pages visited to Microsoft
#147Is there even a "pure" browser anymore? By that, I mean one which by default will do this: if I enter a URL in the address bar, it will fetch that page and its associated resources. If I click a link on a page, it will fetch its destination (this is obviously a simplified view, ignoring things like JS on the page etc.) No other network activity, no "recommendations", no other attempts to be "smart" or "helping" by do…
For anyone who's wondering, Firefox handles Safe Browsing a lot differently. There's an overview here: https://feeding.cloud.geek.nz/posts/how-safe-browsing-works-... It's possible that this is outdated though.
The tl;dr is that
1. Firefox downloads a list of partial hashes every 30 minutes from Google. It's only the first 32 bits of each hash. This can easily be turned off in about:preferences.
2. When you visit a website, Firefox checks the beginning of the URL against the partial hashes stored locally.
3. If the partial hash matches the beginning of the URL, Firefox downloads a list of all of the hashes beginning with the partial hash it matched.
4. Firefox checks the full hash of the URL against the new list of full hashes. If it matches, the site is blocked. If not, you continue on browsing.
When I first found out how it worked a while ago, I was pretty amazed. It goes to great lengths to not know what sites you're visiting.
Re: Edge sends full URLs of pages visited to Microsoft
#148No one should be surprised by this. Microsoft is Google, just with a price tag attached. (Google services are usually free of charge because they mine your data and target you with ads; Microsoft has discovered the concept of double-dipping and has now joined the party, while still charging for Windows.)
Getting you to sign into your computer with a Microsoft account is all about tracking and monitoring everything you do all of the time and selling a record of it to the highest bidder.
Re: Edge sends full URLs of pages visited to Microsoft
#149Eric Lawrence (PM on Edge, previously on Chrome, previously author of fiddler) showing screenshots of documentation that explains all that, and saying it's been documented this way for 14 years: https://twitter.com/ericlaw/status/1152933704198758401
Telemetry is also documented to collect your browsing history at the Full level (which is the default, I think), but everyone here focuses on SmartScreen instead:
From https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement:
Browser activity, including browsing history and search terms, in Microsoft browsers (Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer).
Re: Edge sends full URLs of pages visited to Microsoft
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
...and for 14 years no ordinary user has understood what those default settings do, instead assuming “their software provider wouldn’t do that...”
I think you're making a big assumption that ordinary users care if Microsoft knows what URLs they visit--how many of them use blockers or another technology to opt out of e.g. Facebook tracking?
Let’s take a step back here, and ask a few questions.
1) Is it possible to care about something that you don’t understand?
2) Is it possible to care about something whose existence you aren’t aware of?
I personally don’t think anyone can have a meaningful discussion about this issue without answering and agreeing on the answers to at least those two questions I ask above.